Todos Santos, Baja
Syllabi:
Politics in America
Using the 2016 presidential election as the backdrop for this course, we will ask how voters decide, how candidates attempt to disseminate their political messages, and how voters and candidates respond to a politically polarized environment. Following the election we will examine how the United States has defined citizenship over time—from property restrictions, race, gender, and national background to felon exclusion laws today—limiting what groups are able to participate in democratic elections. We will develop an understanding of the scientific method and the analytical tools necessary to answer all of these questions.
Gender, Power, and Leadership
Gender is one of the most recognizable and important identities in daily life. Yet it has been paid scant attention by political scientists in terms of its role on access to political power, opinion formation, group identity politics, election outcomes, and political representation. This class provides a survey of the literature on gender in American politics. We begin with the interdisciplinary research on the social construction of gender to understand what gender is and is not. Throughout the course we will use those theories to analyze and critique the approaches of quantitative research on gender politics.
Minority Political Behavior
The racial landscape in the United States has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years. Between the 2000 and 2010 Censuses, the Hispanic population grew by 15.2 million, meaning 1 in 6 residents is of Hispanic ethnicity. The Asian American population grew by 43 percent— making it the fastest-growing racial group. The proportion of Americans identifying as Black or as “Some Other Race” also increased. In addition, more than 9 million Americans identify with more than one racial group, and it is estimated that 20 percent of the population will identify this way by 2050. All told, almost one-third of Americans now identify with a racial/ethnic minority group.
This seminar is intended to provide a foundation for thinking about the question of minority status in American politics. We will attempt to address such broad topics as: the strategic political circumstances of American racial/ethnic minority groups; political mobilization; statutory and legal intervention in the electoral process; the politics of immigration, acculturation, and identification; and theories and levels of minority representation. We'll try to compare the current political dilemmas and strategic situations of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans, their political behavior, the specific policy issues important to each group, and disputes within minority groups over what their political/social goals should be and how best to accomplish them.
2017-2018 Teaching at OU:
Fall 2017:
P SC 2103: Politics in America
P SC 3043: Gender, Power, and Leadership
Spring 2016:
P SC 2103: Politics in America
P SC 5940: Experimental Research Methods (graduate)
Teaching at Stanford:
PS 223/FEMGEN 223: The Politics of Gender in the United States
Spring 2015
Other Teaching:
Co-Instructor
Democracy and Incarceration
Spring 2013
Prison University Project at San Quentin State Prison
As Americans, we value democracy. We think that each person’s voice should be heard and counted when we make political decisions. We also value the protection of human rights. These rights place important limits on democratic decision-making. For example, if the majority of people were to vote for reinstituting slavery, it would be wrong to respect the “democratic will” because slavery violates human rights. There are some things that a democratic majority is not allowed to force on individuals. But what are these things? And who should decide when the democratic majority has overstepped its limits? Judges? Juries? Politicians? Individual citizens?
We will examine these questions through the lens of American incarceration. We will learn that at different times in America’s history, judges and juries at trial had more power to determine the length of prison sentences. Should judges and juries have this power -- or should it be exercised by prosecutors (as it often is now) – or by “The People” at large? We will consider whether the democratic majority should be able to dictate sentences through ballot initiatives (as California did with its Three Strikes Law). We will also consider when -- if ever – the U.S. Supreme Court should be able to say “No” to the democratic will in order to protect individual rights. Was the U.S. Supreme Court correct to prohibit the death penalty in 1972 even though a majority of Americans wanted to uphold it? Was the Supreme Court right in reinstating the death penalty in 1976?
We will also consider whether our democracy is a real “democracy” if convicted felons are prevented from voting. How does felony disenfranchisement change the political world that we live in – and what is its effect on policy decisions about incarceration? The public has generally run American prisons, but there is now a rise in private prisons run by corporations. Are the economic incentives of these corporations consistent with democratic decision-making and the individual rights of prisoners?
These questions (and more!) force us to think not only about what prison sentences and prison conditions should be like, but about who should decide what sentences and conditions should be like. To gain more perspective on this question, we will also look at the criminal justice system in China, a country that is far less democratic than the United States. Our central question will be: How does – and how should – the democratic process affect the criminal justice system?
Politics in America
Using the 2016 presidential election as the backdrop for this course, we will ask how voters decide, how candidates attempt to disseminate their political messages, and how voters and candidates respond to a politically polarized environment. Following the election we will examine how the United States has defined citizenship over time—from property restrictions, race, gender, and national background to felon exclusion laws today—limiting what groups are able to participate in democratic elections. We will develop an understanding of the scientific method and the analytical tools necessary to answer all of these questions.
Gender, Power, and Leadership
Gender is one of the most recognizable and important identities in daily life. Yet it has been paid scant attention by political scientists in terms of its role on access to political power, opinion formation, group identity politics, election outcomes, and political representation. This class provides a survey of the literature on gender in American politics. We begin with the interdisciplinary research on the social construction of gender to understand what gender is and is not. Throughout the course we will use those theories to analyze and critique the approaches of quantitative research on gender politics.
Minority Political Behavior
The racial landscape in the United States has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years. Between the 2000 and 2010 Censuses, the Hispanic population grew by 15.2 million, meaning 1 in 6 residents is of Hispanic ethnicity. The Asian American population grew by 43 percent— making it the fastest-growing racial group. The proportion of Americans identifying as Black or as “Some Other Race” also increased. In addition, more than 9 million Americans identify with more than one racial group, and it is estimated that 20 percent of the population will identify this way by 2050. All told, almost one-third of Americans now identify with a racial/ethnic minority group.
This seminar is intended to provide a foundation for thinking about the question of minority status in American politics. We will attempt to address such broad topics as: the strategic political circumstances of American racial/ethnic minority groups; political mobilization; statutory and legal intervention in the electoral process; the politics of immigration, acculturation, and identification; and theories and levels of minority representation. We'll try to compare the current political dilemmas and strategic situations of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans, their political behavior, the specific policy issues important to each group, and disputes within minority groups over what their political/social goals should be and how best to accomplish them.
2017-2018 Teaching at OU:
Fall 2017:
P SC 2103: Politics in America
P SC 3043: Gender, Power, and Leadership
Spring 2016:
P SC 2103: Politics in America
P SC 5940: Experimental Research Methods (graduate)
Teaching at Stanford:
PS 223/FEMGEN 223: The Politics of Gender in the United States
Spring 2015
Other Teaching:
Co-Instructor
Democracy and Incarceration
Spring 2013
Prison University Project at San Quentin State Prison
As Americans, we value democracy. We think that each person’s voice should be heard and counted when we make political decisions. We also value the protection of human rights. These rights place important limits on democratic decision-making. For example, if the majority of people were to vote for reinstituting slavery, it would be wrong to respect the “democratic will” because slavery violates human rights. There are some things that a democratic majority is not allowed to force on individuals. But what are these things? And who should decide when the democratic majority has overstepped its limits? Judges? Juries? Politicians? Individual citizens?
We will examine these questions through the lens of American incarceration. We will learn that at different times in America’s history, judges and juries at trial had more power to determine the length of prison sentences. Should judges and juries have this power -- or should it be exercised by prosecutors (as it often is now) – or by “The People” at large? We will consider whether the democratic majority should be able to dictate sentences through ballot initiatives (as California did with its Three Strikes Law). We will also consider when -- if ever – the U.S. Supreme Court should be able to say “No” to the democratic will in order to protect individual rights. Was the U.S. Supreme Court correct to prohibit the death penalty in 1972 even though a majority of Americans wanted to uphold it? Was the Supreme Court right in reinstating the death penalty in 1976?
We will also consider whether our democracy is a real “democracy” if convicted felons are prevented from voting. How does felony disenfranchisement change the political world that we live in – and what is its effect on policy decisions about incarceration? The public has generally run American prisons, but there is now a rise in private prisons run by corporations. Are the economic incentives of these corporations consistent with democratic decision-making and the individual rights of prisoners?
These questions (and more!) force us to think not only about what prison sentences and prison conditions should be like, but about who should decide what sentences and conditions should be like. To gain more perspective on this question, we will also look at the criminal justice system in China, a country that is far less democratic than the United States. Our central question will be: How does – and how should – the democratic process affect the criminal justice system?
